Ok are you ready to make your body fined tuned with a workout specific to improve your snow boarding skills? I hope you have been doing a basic preseason workout routine because now it is time to do more specific training.
Snowboarding is still one of the fastest growing sports amongs 18-30 year olds. I the year 2000 there where about 7 million snowborders in the US and has grown with about 25% of them being women. To be an Exceptional snowboarder it requires certain skills, a high degree of strength and balance to transition from edge to edge while maintaining balance with never ending changes in speed, terrain, and weather.
There are many types of snowbaording some of which we will name , freestyle, free carving, free riding each has there own set of training elements. With the program that we are going to put together it will incompass the broad spectrum of skills required to the sport in general.
What are the most common injuries in snowboarding?
- wrist fractures/sprains,
- ankle fractures/sprains,
- shoulder injuries
- whip lash.
Some special care should be taken to do regular injury prevention exercises so that you lessen you chance for injuries.
Lets look at some of the basic movements in snowboarding.
Stance and balance
How to maintain body balance is the key point of this skill. It is critical for any snowboarder to keep their body on the center of the board. After the rider is well aware of their body balance, they can perform various tricks by moving the balance. Riders can improve this skill by doing exercises like hopping between each turn, or switch riding.
When first starting out, it is important to determine a rider’s stance. The two types are “regular” (left foot forward), or “goofy” (right foot forward). Once a rider is more advanced, they may learn to ride “switch”. This is done by riding with the opposite stance than they learned from. A regular rider switches to goofy, while a goofy rider switches to regular. This is done mostly in terrain park in preparing and/or landing spins.
Stance width is the distance between the center of the front and back binding. To ride comfortably, a rider must get the width correct. It is almost entirely reliant on the rider’s height, but can easily be altered for different terrains.
A forward stance is used mostly for beginners and all-mountain riders. The common degrees are +20˚/+6˚. Duck stance is used mostly for freestyle riders. The common degrees are at +15˚/-15˚ (mirrored).
Stopping
This is a skill any snowboarder must have in order to maintain control while going down the mountain. A lot of people go to fast for how well they can stop and often times that is how they get hurt. There are several ways to come to a complete stop. A boarder can put pressure down on their toe side edge, concentrating their weight on the back of the board. This will naturally guide the board to the right (If riding regular). If the boarder continues to put pressure on their toe side, they will eventually become perpendicular with the trail, and come to a stop. Another way to slow down and stop would be to put pressure on their heel side edge, which will guide the board to the left and will naturally slow down as the board becomes perpendicular to the trail.
Pivot and steering
This skill is closely related to the turning of the board. Pivoting and steering are mainly performed by rotation of the body. When people first ride snowboards, they are advised to use their upper body to move their boards. By rotating their upper body, they can change the direction of the boards. It is crucially important for an instructor to make riders feel the rotation of their body; from upper body to the board. To improve this skill, there are exercises such as fall line pivot, motorboat exercise, and static steering.
Edging
Riders can use their hips, knees, and ankles to create the edge. Key point of this skill is how to maintain body balance on the edge of the board. Riders can control their speed with greater ease by riding on the edge. Riders can also perform carving turns after they learn to keep their body balanced on the edge. Exercise for these skills are static edge change exercise, rail-to-rail, and J-turn. Also known as carving.
Pressure control
If riders are good at pressure control, they can perform much more stable riding. This skill is essential when riders are on the bumpy slope, or on the various terrains. By flexing or extending the body, a rider can absorb or add to the pressure of the board, controlling speed. Advanced riders can use lower parts of their bodies to control the pressure of the board. Exercises for this skill are fall line stop, ollies, nollies, and small straight air.
Timing and coordination
This skill is about changing in rhythm of the performance. If you are good at this skill, you are very confident with performing any kinds of turns by coordinate your body movement in a proper timing. Exercises for this skill are top gun turn, counting with focus on symmetry, and tornado turns.
So now we know the basics of what it takes to snowboard. Let talk about your weekly exercise schedule. The majority of your movements in snowboarding will come from your core outward.
Some of the best ways to cross train is to use a trampoline or do some sort of gymnastics to learn more dynamic balance.
Well that will be the topics that I will cover today. If you would like a full exercise program design contact me.
Stay tuned for the next blog post on nutrition for a snowboard athlete.
Thank you for your time and energy
Jaime Hernandez
Health and Exercise Prescriptions
http://www.healthandexerciseprescriptions.com
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